Homeschool Evangelist - Homeschool Blogger

Cate

Sun, 3 Feb 2008 11:21:00 -0600

Here are some photos of Cate at 4 months

and with a funny grin

Now some photos of those events!

Sun, 3 Feb 2008 10:11:00 -0600

We'll start with my concussion -- the offending gate . . .

Now, for Sam's stitches

And some Atlanta snow photos!

Jac & Autumn's first attempt at a snowman

Now it's a Seal --

And then our neighbors let us use their snow to make big snowmen!

Oh, yes, and we actually did celebrate Christmas

Update

Sat, 2 Feb 2008 16:59:00 -0600

Well, it's February and I haven't blogged since the end of November - wow!

We survived Christmas and then actually had 2 days of real snow in Atlanta - it had been FOUR years!

Then we had 2 exciting trips to the ER -- one for me (concussion) and one for Sam (stitches).

I have photos of these exciting events, but I haven't gotten them uploaed yet. So a quick story will have to do.

On a Wednesday afternoon in early January, the UPS guy brought me 3 new geography puzzles. I took a peek and then proceeded to take them to put on the school book shelves in the dining room. As I made my way in there, I tried to step over the baby gate. I caught my toe on the top and went tumbling down. I tried to turn to my side to cushion the fall and not hit my face, but the next thing I knew I was waking up and it was all dark. Yep, knocked myself out! After noticing some slurring of my words, Kurt dropped me at the ER and drove around for 2 hours (with all 7 kids in the car) so I could get a CT scan in peace.

And then poor Sam -- 26 months now -- tipped his entire high chair over and hit Jac's chair corner with his FACE. A nice slice on the forehead had to be stitched up and now he and Josh have matching 3mm scars.

Just do the Next Thing

Wed, 28 Nov 2007 21:28:00 -0600

I have been absent from blogging for a few weeks since I have been in Elisabeth Elliot mode . . . "Just Do the Next Thing." That was her recommendation for moms when things get so hairy that you don't know what to do. It's been HORRIBLY busy around here this month, but I'm hoping we are turning a corner.

Just as I was finally getting a groove in our homeschooling schedule with a new baby, we are taking a 5 week break from "formal" school. In other words, we will do a few hours a week of school, mostly in the morning, but not any of the dreaded subjects! Of course, when I announced this plan, the kids told me that we COULDN'T stop math, science, geography, spelling, history or copywork . . . who knew that homeschooled kids would think vacations from school were BAD!

So here's a photo of our kids and a link to an interesting article --

http://dexios.info/video_page.html

This website has video testimonials of homeschooling parents and children.

North Georgia

Fri, 19 Oct 2007 21:30:00 -0500

Here's the photo from our trip to the North Georgia mountains. We went to Reece's Apple Farm to pick apples like we did last year, but when we arrived, the trees were bare!!!!

Mummy photos

Thu, 18 Oct 2007 15:10:00 -0500

We are using Mystery of History, Vol. 1 to study ancient history. Here's our mummy wrapping . . .

Gentleness

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 22:16:00 -0500

I read this article today from Crosswalk and thought that it was quite appropriate for my current situation -- yelling at the kids and getting impatient too often. It was encouraging and humbling at the same time . . .

The Art of Gentling

Timothy Palla, Contributing Writer

My three youngest children recently acquired pets which have become an exciting part of their homeschool education. Did I say pets? I meant livestock. Yes, Meghan (eight going on nine), Ethan (ten), and Aidan (twelve) are now the proud owners of three beautiful foals. Normally I would never recommend giving a child a young horse, but this is a highly supervised elective and my wife and I have the assurance that the Lord was in it (He has been known to do some rather surprising things, hasn't He?). The story begins about two and a half years ago, but I'm going to spare you many of the details and only go back to August 2007. Hopefully, I'll be able to tie it all together by the end of this article.

A neighbor of mine breeds, raises, trains, and shows Paint (spotted) horses. It is a family business, you might say, and they are quite successful with several national champions to their credit. Last month the owner called me up and told me he had three foals which he wanted to give to my three youngest children. He had watched my daughter and sons show their ponies at the county fair and something he saw made an impression.

During lunch break on our second day of class, three nervous weanling foals were unloaded from a horse trailer into a pen in my backyard. The babies were not used to being handled and they were now in a strange environment making them even more fearful and skittish. It would require lots of patience and gentleness to transform their fear into trust. The process is not new to me, but the results are always amazing.

read the rest at http://www.crosswalk.com/homeschool/11556015/

Here are some photos of the boys being good brothers -- you're supposed to catch 'em being good, right?

C.S. Lewis on Education

Mon, 8 Oct 2007 20:19:00 -0500

Today I read a "rant" by radio talk show host, Neal Boortz, where he quotes C.S. Lewis on education. Neal Boortz is quite a wild guy, so be careful if you go to his website, but here's the Lewis quote he discusses . . .

"What I want to fix your attention on is the vast overall movement towards the discrediting, and finally the elimination, of every kind of human excellence -- moral, cultural, social or intellectual. And is it not pretty to notice how 'democracy' (in the incantatory sense) is now doing for us the work that was once done by the most ancient dictatorships, and by the same methods? The basic proposal of the new education is to be that dunces and idlers must not be made to feel inferior to intelligent and industrious pupils. That would be 'undemocratic.' Children who are fit to proceed may be artificially kept back, because the others would get a trauma by being left behind. The bright pupil thus remains democratically fettered to his own age group throughout his school career, and a boy who would be capable of tackling Aeschylus or Dante sits listening to his coeval's [of the same age] attempts to spell out A CAT SAT ON A MAT. We may reasonably hope for the virtual abolition of education when 'I'm as good as you' has fully had its way. All incentives to learn and all penalties for not learning will vanish. The few who might want to learn will be prevented; who are they to overtop their fellows? And anyway, the teachers -- or should I say nurses? -- will be far too busy reassuring the dunces and patting them on the back to waste any time on real teaching. We shall no longer have to plan and toil to spread imperturbable conceit and incurable ignorance among men." C. S. Lewis

And a cute picture of the kids doing the ASL sign for "rhino" in front of the Rhino exhibit at a zoo in Georgia.

What Your Preschooler Really Needs

Sat, 6 Oct 2007 07:32:00 -0500

I thought this was particularly interesting for those of us in big cities and the "rich" suburbs. Here in north Atlanta, the pressure to put your child into a preschool by age 3 is HUGE!!!!!!!

What Your Preschooler Really Needs

By Susan Lemons

The world has a lot to say about parenting nowadays. From Dr. Spock to Dr. Phil, from the Super Nanny to our own families, a plethora of “experts” scold us with a never-ending barrage of advice—most of it conflicting. The newspapers and magazines scream at us about the “needs” of children and the latest “unbiased study,” while the publishing companies profit from the confusion by churning out numerous books on parenting every year. Slick ad campaigns report that parents need only buy the latest “educational” toy, or enroll their innocents in the newest “educational” program to guarantee academic success and future happiness for their children.

Meanwhile, parents are stressed and confused. According to CBS News, 54% of parents with 2-5 year olds admit to feeling worried about their children’s academic progress, and more than 90% think that starting “early” is the key to success. Parents are enrolling toddlers into rigorous academic tutorial programs in record numbers, and routinely over-schedule their youngsters with play-dates, lessons, sports, and classes, all in hopes of giving their children some sort of “advantage.” Whatever happened to childhood?

Homeschoolers are not immune to these phenomena, either. . .

Read the rest at http://www.crosswalk.com/homeschool/11541408/

And recently at my house we created "Painted brother" . . .

Recovering from Public School Education

Wed, 3 Oct 2007 07:27:00 -0500

Thought this was a great article & one that I could relate to!

Recovering from Public School Education

Cindy Puhek, Contributing Writer

I have an infirmity in my spiritual life, and I have spent 20 years trying to regain my health. During my years of public school education, my soul became infected with the disease of worldly philosophies. Yet, if anyone could have graduated from the public classrooms unscathed, it was I. I was set up for success.

I truly loved the Lord and was more Biblically literate than most. I had a stable family with parents who cared about my emotional, spiritual, and physical welfare. I escaped the moral morass that keeps parents awake at night praying that God will preserve their children's souls. My high school years could be projected on a screen for all to see, and there is very little of which I would be ashamed. I took advantage of opportunities offered me in school and had a long list of awards and accolades by the time I graduated. The light of Christ shone through me enough that my classmates voted me "Most Likely to Become a Nun." I was also valedictorian of my high school class and suffered persecution for wanting to state the name of Jesus in my graduation speech.

So why is it that I feel ensnared by my education?

For the rest of the story, go to http://www.crosswalk.com/homeschool/11555440/